


Beneath the Words (You'll Hear My Heart)

by Weareallstoriesintheend



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 04:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7419004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weareallstoriesintheend/pseuds/Weareallstoriesintheend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver has been crushing on his co-worker for a year now, but never said anything. When she shows up at a company party alone and sad, it's the push he needs to finally talk to Felicity Smoak.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beneath the Words (You'll Hear My Heart)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dettiot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dettiot/gifts).



> Happy Birthday Mel!!! I hope you like your birthday fic! It's a fluffy AU just for you! Thank you to Megan for the betaing. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!

The noise in the bar was giving him a headache. The clinking of glasses, rattling of silverware, voices and laughter all coalesced into a constant hum that was eating away at his sanity. 

“Buddy,” Tommy said, appearing next to him with a hand on his shoulder. “It’s a party, you should be having fun! Why do you look like you want to kill someone?”

Oliver grimaced at his partner’s words. “Sorry,” he apologized. “It’s just really loud in here and you know how much I love crowded places.”

Tommy winced in sympathy. He was well aware of his friend’s hatred for things like this, but he also knew it was necessary.

“Suck it up for another hour, Oliver,” he told him as he signaled the bartender behind them. “This is a party. OUR party and we have to celebrate.”

Taking the drink, Oliver sighed. Tommy was right.Tonight was about celebrating the fact that the company that two of them had started together two years ago just landed their biggest contract to date. It was the culmination of months of late nights and early mornings and endless pots of coffee, but they had done it. When all Oliver had wanted to after the received the news was sleep, Tommy had reminded him that they had employees who worked just as hard as they did and deserved a night to let loose.

Oliver looked around the private room they had rented for the evening to see everyone smiling and laughing. It was a small company, so far, and the last few months had brought everyone closer together. It made the forced socializing easier to bear when he could see all his colleagues and friends enjoying themselves.

Well, almost all of them.

Glancing over the room, Oliver’s eyes landed on her. Her. Felicity Smoak. Chief Technology Officer of QM Enterprises. His heart stopped when he saw her. It always did. Every time she walked into a meeting or he passed her in the hallway, his heart stopped and then started pounding wildly. She always greeted him with a big, genuine smile before rattling off numbers and facts about things that were completely over his head. Usually he barely managed to get a word in before she started talking again or had to run off, but their encounters were always a highlight for him.

At first he could only see her head through a break in the crowd, but as people shifted he suddenly got a clear view. His breath caught in his throat looking at her. She was perched on a stool at the bar just down from him. Her short red dress was riding almost indecently high on her legs making them look longer than ever. Add in her strappy black heels and suddenly Oliver was having a hard time breathing.

Tearing his gaze from her legs, Oliver could see blonde curls tumbling around her shoulders and his mouth went dry. He’d been wondering for the past year what her hair looked like when it was out of the ponytail she always wore at work and now he knew that it looked soft and touchable. His fingers actually ached with desire to feel it.

Oliver’s eyebrows furrowed when he realized she was alone at the bar and looked very unhappy. Felicity was one of the most positive people he knew. Everyone at the company loved her and her tendency to say exactly what she was thinking at any given moment. She always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. Right now though, she seemed upset. Her eyes were fixed on the wood of the bar in front of her, her lips, painted bright red, turned down into a frown Oliver looked around the room as if he could tell what was wrong and go fix it.

“Felicity looks very pretty tonight,” Tommy said from next to him nonchalantly.

Tommy had never been quiet in his delight over Oliver’s fascination with Felicity, even going so far as to call it a crush, though Oliver would never use such a term. Tommy never failed to point out how brilliant or beautiful Felicity was, as if Oliver needed reminding.

“I heard the guy she’s been seeing broke things off right before she came tonight,” Tommy mentioned casually. “Said something about her working too much, or being too much work, I can’t remember.”

Oliver’s fists clenched at Tommy’s words and he was moving before he even realized it, completely oblivious to Tommy smikrking behind him. How dare anyone call Felicity too much work?

Halfway there it dawned on him that he had no idea what to say. He’d never initiated a conversation with Felicity before. She always did, though they weren’t exactly conversations so much as her talking at him, but it seemed to work for them.

Say hi, he told himself. Tell her she looks beautiful. No, that’s too much. Ask if she’s okay. Yeah, just say hi and see if she needs a drink.

With a plan firmly in place, Oliver made his final approach. Felicity looked up when he neared her and he could see her eyes were a little red from what looked like crying. He clenched his fists again at anyone hurting her.

“Hi Oliver,” she said with a small smile, her voice quiet.

“Whoever bailed on you tonight is an idiot and I think you need to have a drink with me,” he blurted out.

Felicity’s mouth dropped open in shock along with Oliver’s. Had he really just said that? What happened to just saying hi? He opened his mouth to backpedal when he noticed the red rimmed eyes again.

“In fact,” he continued, deciding for once in his life to just go with it. “I think you should have dinner with me. Right now.”

Her eyes widened in shock. “Are you drunk?” she whispered, looking around furtively.

The grin spreading across his face was the same one he got every time he spoke to her. “No, Felicity. I’m not drunk, but I can see that you’re upset and I thought you might want someone to talk to away from the crowd.”

She stared at him with her lips pursed slightly in that way that always made him want to kiss her senseless. Her brow was furrowed as if he was a puzzle she couldn’t figure out. He’d seen that look on her face countless times before as she worked through a problem.

“Oliver.” she said slowly. “This is _ your _ party, you can’t just leave. Besides, you don’t have to…”

Stepping into her space, Oliver cut her off with a hand on her shoulder. “Felicity, I have talked to everyone and conveyed my gratitude for all their hard work. Tommy is here and more than capable of playing host the rest of the evening. As far as taking you to dinner, I know it’s something I don’t  _ have _ to do, but it is something I would  _ like _ to do. In fact, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time now.”

Felicity blinked up at him, her pretty red mouth open in shock. He just stared back at her, trying desperately not to squirm under her scrutiny.

“I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you say at once,” she finally said, a slow grin creeping across her face.”Usually I’m the one doing all the talking.”

He huffed out a small laugh, “I like listening to you,” he stated simply. “Let me take you to that Thai place you love and I can listen to you there.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, “How do you know about Mango Thai?”

“You told me.” At her confused look, Oliver continued. “Three weeks ago, we were in the conference room, waiting for Tommy and Curtis to come in and you started telling me about your date the night before. You said the date was just okay, but the food was amazing.”

“I can’t believe you remember that. I just assumed you weren’t listening.”

“Felicity, I always listen to you,” he told her. “Do you want to go there or somewhere else?”

Felicity paused, weighing her options. “No, Thai is good.”

With a grin, Oliver held out his hand to help her off her stool. “Do you have a jacket?”

Nodding mutely, Felicity made her way toward the coat check at the front of the bar. Oliver was momentarily distracted by the cut out on her dress that exposed a sliver of skin on her lower back. It entranced him and he found his eyes drifting down toward her spectacular ass. Turning her head to look for him, Felicity noticed him staring at her ass and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Oliver just grinned before catching up to her and placing a hand on that tantalizing piece of exposed skin. It was warm and soft and he felt her shiver against his hand. “I’m going to tell Tommy I’m leaving. Meet you by the front door?” he whispered into her ear, gratified when he felt her shiver again. At least he knew it wasn’t completely one-sided, this attraction.

Nodding her agreement, Felicity continued on her way to the coat check while Oliver turned the other way and headed to Tommy.

“That looked promising,” Tommy teased as he approached.

“Very promising,” Oliver agreed. “We’re going to dinner.”

“It’s about damn time, man,” Tommy sighed. “I thought I was going to have to watch you two dance around each other forever!”

Oliver shook his head. “It’s just dinner, Tommy.”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Sure man, whatever you say. Just don’t propose before dessert.”

“I’ll see you on Monday,” Oliver said, ignoring his friend’s comment as he clapped the other man on the shoulder.

Butterflies took nest in his stomach as he headed for the door. He’d done it. He’d asked Felicity out. Now what?

Approaching the front door, Oliver could see Felicity shifting nervously from one foot to the other and for some reason, knowing that she was nervous too, relaxed him. 

“Ready?” he asked as he neared her.

Her blue eyes raised up to his and he could see a million questions swirling in them. He braced himself for them, but they never came. As quick as they appeared, they were gone again.

“Ready,” she told him with a shy smile.

  
The walk to the restaurant was..quiet. It wasn’t a bad silence, but Oliver was so used to Felicity talking to him all the time that he had no idea how to talk to  _ her _ . The butterflies returned as they reached the restaurant and she still hadn’t said a word. Maybe she was regretting saying yes in the first place. What if she’d felt obligated since he was (technically) her boss?

“Felicity,” Oliver said, grabbing her hand to stop her right outside the restaurant. “We don't have to do this if you don’t want. I’m sorry if you felt like you had to say yes.”

Her eyes went wide. “Why would you think that?”

“You haven’t said a word since we left the bar,” he explained as he ran his thumb across her knuckles. He couldn’t seem to make himself drop her hand. “I know you’re normally not this quiet. I can only assume that I’m making you uncomfortable.”

“Oliver, no,” she protested, shaking her head. “You aren’t making me uncomfortable, I’m just...nervous. I don’t know what to say.”

He laughed gently and led her into the restaurant. After they were seated, the hostess taking their drink orders, Oliver leaned forward and grabbed her hand again. “Just talk to me like you always do,” he told her, addressing her earlier concern.

“But that’s the thing. I never thought you were actually listening to me, Oliver.” Her voice was incredulous at the realization that he’d been paying attention to her.

Oliver was stunned. “Why wouldn’t I listen to you?”

With a wave of dismissal, Felicity sat back in her chair, pulling her hand from his. He immediately missed the warmth of it in his.

“I talk a lot. A lot a lot, Oliver. I know that, just like I know that most people tune me out.” His face must have shown his outrage at that idea, because she quickly continued. “It’s okay. I don't mind, but finding out that you’ve been paying attention to what I’ve been babbling about for the past year, it’s a little surprising. Add in the fact that you said you’ve wanted to take me to dinner for a while now, but you’ve never said a word. Never hinted or flirted, hell, you’ve barely spoken to me in the last year and I guess I’m a little confused on top of nervous. I’m going to stop talking now.”

Felicity bit her lips together to keep from physically talking more and Oliver found it so damn adorable he barely repressed the urge to hug her. Instead he tried to focus on her words and concerns.

“You’re right,” he began carefully. “I haven’t actually talked to you very much, but I don’t talk to a lot of people. I usually let Tommy talk and I just listen. As for not flirting with you, well I never really planned on asking you out.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Oliver knew they were a mistake. Felicity’s face shuttered instantly and he felt he stomach swirl with panic as a small “Oh” left her mouth.

He closed his eyes at his own stupidity. “That sounded bad,” he admitted. Opening his eyes, the panic grew at Felicity’s guarded expression. “I never planned on asking you out because I knew you were so far out of my league it was laughable that you would ever say yes.”

Felicity snorted. “Yes, I can see how you would think that, Oliver. You’re only the founder of the fastest growing company in Starling City, named Most Eligible Bachelor last year and look like you belong on a movie screen. I can totally see why you would think that your CTO, which is just a fancy title for computer geek, was out of your league.”

Sarcasm dripped from her words and Oliver couldn’t stop the grin that broke out over his face. “All of that is just surface stuff, though I would like to come back to the comment about me looking like I belong on a movie screen.” He raised his eyebrows with an exaggerated waggle and Felicity laughed out loud. “You,however, are brilliant, funny, and kind. Not to mention, sexy as hell. I figured I didn’t stand a chance.”

Oliver paused while their server came with their drinks and took their orders. After she left, he continued. “When I saw you tonight, looking so gorgeous yet so sad, I knew I couldn’t not try, even if you shot me down.  I wanted to see you smile again. I wanted to be the reason you smiled again.”

Reaching for her drink, Felicity stared at him with that puzzle look again. Oliver sipped his own drink and just waited, knowing she needed a minute to process.

“You know,” she finally said with a sly smirk. “I should have just jumped you like I wanted to when I first met you. It would have saved us a lot of time.”

Oliver threw his head back and laughed. “You absolutely should have,” he told her once the laughter faded. “I wouldn’t have stopped you.”

Conversation flowed so quickly the rest of the night that they often found themselves talking over each other. Oliver couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled or laughed so much. Felicity made him feel light and fun. Even hours later, when they were still lingering over Thai coffee and mango sticky rice, neither one of them were ready to say good night. Finally, when their server informed them that the restaurant was closing, Oliver was shocked to see that they were the only ones left. He hadn’t even noticed the place emptying out.  

Reluctantly, Oliver paid the bill, leaving a generous tip to their extremely patient server, and led Felicity outside.

“Do you want me to walk you back to your car?” he asked, hoping she would say yes so he could spend a little more time with her.

“I actually walked to the bar tonight,” she informed him. “My place is only a few blocks from here. Do you want to walk me home?”

Oliver smiled and held out his arm for her to take, thrilled to know she didn’t want the night to end either. Once she’d looped her arm through his, they set off at a leisurely pace. Neither of them spoke, but this time the silence didn’t bother him. Felicity sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder and Oliver’s heart skipped.

All too soon, Felicity stopped walking. “This is me,” she told him softly.

He raised his head to see a modest-looking building that he could see had been converted into apartments. “This is where you live?” he asked.

“Do I sense judgement there, Mr. Queen?” she teased.

“No, not judgement. Concern,” he clarified. “It doesn’t look very secure.”

Felicity laughed at him. “That’s because it’s not. I don't need anything secure.”

Turning to face her fully, Oliver reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, loving the way her eyes softened when he did. “I know how much you make, Felicity,” he reminded her. “I know you can afford to live somewhere better. Safer.”

“I like it here, Oliver. It has character,” she told him firmly. “Now, are you going to keep lecturing me or were you going to kiss me anytime soon?”

“I wasn’t lecturing,” he muttered.

Felicity laughed again as she raised up on her toes, “Sure you weren’t.”

Oliver smiled, leaning in and meeting her halfway. Her lips were even softer than he could have imagined and he couldn’t help leaning in for more. With a soft moan that he felt through his entire body, Felicity opened her mouth and Oliver deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue against hers. . She tasted like mango and coffee and he couldn’t get enough.

He lost all track of time as they kissed, each one pulling back intermittently to breathe before leaning in again. His fingers tangled into her impossibly soft hair, while hers ran down his back and pulled him in closer. Finally, Oliver forced himself to stop, leaning back to look at her. Her face was flushed, lips swollen and it was almost a physical ache with how much he wanted to keep kissing her.

Opening her eyes, Felicity looked up at him with a grin. “Yep,” she said. “Totally should have jumped you a year ago.”

Laughter bubbled out of him again. How did she keep doing that? No one ever made him laugh like Felicity did effortlessly.

“Do you want to come up?” she asked him with a shy smile.”I have ice cream.”

“What kind of ice cream?” he teased, running his hands down her back, barely resisting the urge to cup her delightful ass.

“Mint chip,” she purred, her back arching into his touch.

“I knew I liked you for a reason,” he smiled back.

She reached up and gave another quick peck on the lips before grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs. When they reached the top, Oliver spun her around and back into his arms, kissing her again.

“I’m really happy I asked you to dinner tonight,” Oliver told her when he pulled away.

Felicity hummed in agreement. “Me too. Thank you for listening to me babble at you for the last year.”

Oliver grinned as she snuggled into his arms for a hug. “I will happily listen to you anytime.”


End file.
